Edwards on a roll – Liverpool’s sporting director would deserve a statue if he completes this £27m sale

Why Liverpool could complete the steal of the summer by offloading Origi for £27m

After an exciting transfer window that has so far seen Liverpool make eye-catching signings in the form of Fabinho, Xherdan Shaqiri and Alisson Becker, whilst Naby Keita finally joined the club following an agreed deal last summer with RB Leipzig. However, the focus has switched towards the players the club are planning to sell.

The Reds completed a shrewd business by selling goalkeeper Danny Ward to Leicester City for £12.5m and Jurgen Klopp is reportedly eyeing up to get £100m through sales. Spearheading the outgoing list is Divock Origi, who has a £27million price-tag on his head.

Spanish side Valencia have shown interest in the Belgian striker and this summer could be the right time for Klopp to offload Origi.

Origi, 23, moved to Merseyside four years ago from Lille and showed early promise where it really looked as if he could lead the line for the years to come. But an ankle injury sustained in the Merseyside derby against Everton in 2016 cut short his season and since then, the Belgian has struggled to live up to his initial promise.

There were still flashes of brilliance but in an unsettled second season, the striker’s all-round game looked a shadow of what it was a year before. With Dominic Solanke joining from Chelsea last summer, Klopp decided to ship out Origi to Wolfsburg on loan.

He was unimpressive at Wolfsburg last season, mustering just 7 goals in all competitions, although in an underperforming side which fought the relegation battle.

Origi has returned to Anfield with a chance to work his way back into Klopp’s plans for next season. It appeared to be an ideal scenario for Origi to prove his mettle to the manager given the absence of Liverpool’s preferred front three but the striker has royally underwhelmed in the pre-season games he has played so far.

Despite the manager throwing young Dominic Solanke on the flank to accommodate Origi through the middle, the Belgian has looked out of sorts, doing very little to convince Klopp that he has a future at Liverpool.

While he possesses the strength and the pace required to make it as a striker in the Premier League, Origi fails to come short and receive the pass from deep and spread the play, something which Roberto Firmino and Daniel Sturridge are capable of doing.

Since impressing as a teenager at the 2014 World Cup, the Belgian’s career has gone backwards in the last couple of years. The fact that Liverpool want £27million for their striker seems a little ambitious.

Read more: Klopp must simply splash £27m and land this World Cup star as Van Dijk’s partner at Liverpool

Valencia are rumoured to be interested and if the Reds, led by the impressive sporting director Michael Edwards, manage to make them pay that amount, it would be a fantastic piece of business given the way Origi’s career has stalled. If the deal takes place, Liverpool would pull off an act of daylight robbery.